Mantra to be a global winner – Be yourself

While this year India had a low performance at Cannes Lions, the industry at large was satisfied with the outcome. Primary reason for this was that the global learnings picked up by creative experts are believed to be the best so far. Awards in the advertising world have gone much beyond from being a pat on the back. Agencies are working toward creating work that creates effectiveness in the home country and then present it to the world.

A creative communication campaign presented by different countries on global platforms is a reflection of the society that they belong to, the culture that they follow and the consumers’ acceptance. Many creative experts have observed that creative communication plans that imbibe stereotypical factors of the society gets a plus point at these platforms but that is not the real case is what others believe.

It is the always the one who ideates fresh, presents impressions and portrays to be himself who gets an edge to be a global winner. The notion that only a creative communication plan that reflects the stereotypical side of the society is closer to be a winner needs to be broken. The moment this stops, there will be freshness in the creative work produced.

The fact that India is one of the most diverse countries of the world needs to be used in an optimist manner. It is this diversity that can generate rich localised creative communications and culturally sound work. Creative work such as these, if presented well, will be recognised with applauses at global platforms such as Cannes Lions. That is because the experts there come down to understand the nuances of the communication thought process.

The age old mantra of ‘listen to the consumer, engage in conversation and innovate while at it’ has not changed. If the creative work is a hit among the consumers, half the battle is won is what experts believe. Consumers connect works best to give confidence to the creative experts to showcase their work at global competitions.

On a global level when there is an ocean of entries in front of the jury, to create an impression in 30 seconds is a task in itself. Creative experts needs to, therefore, choose the right entry, package it well and most importantly present it to stand out in the clutter.

With no show in the digital categories in Cannes Lions this year, many industry experts started pondering on the fact if digital creatives of India are of global standards. Creative experts believe the new media work done needs to be packaged well. Case studies needs to be packaged in a manner that it reflects all the aspects of the campaign in most effective manner. That’s what Indian digital creative experts need to work towards.

Above and all creative work should come from the heart, strategically packaged and integrate wherever possible. The road ahead looks extremely positive provided creative experts work towards creating simple, refined and attractive campaigns that can be world-class. Creative experts should also look forward to experiments and explore the areas which were not tapped before to be recongised at the global stature.

The above report is based on a panel discussion that was a part of the Traveling One Show, which also held a special screening and exhibition of some of the best works from the winners at One Show in Mumbai. KV Sridhar, Chief Creative Officer, India Sub-continent, Leo Burnett; Santosh Padhi, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Taproot India; Josy Paul, Chairman and National Creative Director, BBDO India and Manish Bhatt Founder-Director, Scarecrow Communications were the imminent speakers.